Pope Leo has raised concerns about the potential dangers of artificial intelligence (AI) during his first official visit to France in 18 years. Speaking at the Élysée on the first day of his three-day visit, he emphasized the need for ethical education to prevent humanity from being lost in a "paradise of machines."
Urgent Call for Ethical Education
In his address, the pontiff stated,
“"If we are to avoid losing our humanity amid a paradise of machines invading and conditioning our daily lives, there is an urgent need for people to be educated in ethical discernment, capable of seeing what is morally right."
He further insisted that new technologies must
“"remain at the service of the human person rather than becoming yet another instrument of domination and injustice."
The Dangers of Dehumanization
Pope Leo warned that the pursuit of science without ethics could lead to a loss of meaning. He noted that while certain artificial systems are labeled as intelligent, they risk dehumanizing our ideas and relationships. He remarked,
“"While intelligence is attributed to computational systems, we struggle to recognize the inalienable dignity of human persons whose lives are judged according to the criterion of efficiency and when deemed no longer productive, rejected and discarded."
